The Muppet Movie review

The Muppets movie blu ray scan

a scan of my own copy of the Muppet movie

I give the Muppet Movie

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4 stars for I give the Muppet Movie

Well after reviewing the Muppets Most Wanted decided to check out another Muppet Blu Ray I got a few months ago and that was the Muppet Movie the original movies from the 1970’s, so after watching it how is it. Still pretty good although there are some age spots (you do cameos of celebrities that are big at the time you’re going to date your movie) but overall the main story is timeless and still pretty funny.

The story starts off with Kermit the frog singing in the swamp about Rainbows when he gets approached by a Hollywood agent (Dom Deluise) who tells he could make it big in Hollywood with his talent. After thinking it over Kermit gets on his bike and starts to set off West. However his bike is quickly destroyed (it’s a good thing I can jump or else I would be gone with Schwinn is what he says about this) by a bull dozer. Meets Fozzy Bear in a rough bar and the two decide to go west together. Unfortunately Kermit also manages to come to the attention of one Doc Hopper a mad man version of Colonel Sanders who sells fried frog legs and wants Kermit to be his main spokes men (by the way excellent satire of the old McDonalds commercials is seen when Hopper makes his offer). Kermit wants nothing to do with it so he and Fozzy have to watch their backs on their cross country road trip. Along the way Kermit finds other talent that decide to join him. He runs into Gonzo (quite literally) and he decides to join. At a state fair in the south he runs into Miss Piggy after she wins a beauty contest. Rowlf the Dog after he cheers Kermit up after Miss Piggy decides to dump him. And many other outlandish Muppet characters around the way. Of course Hopper doesn’t give up easy he hires a mad doctor too turn Kermit’s brains into goo (played by Mel Brooks who along with Madeline Kahn and Dom Deluise who also make cameos means you get all the regulars for a Mel Brooks film from back in the day) and then hires some professional assassins to kill Kermit when all else fails.

The movie like I said is dated, when a lot of the cameos come from that time period a smaller kid probably won’t recognize the cameos I already mention throw in Bob Hope and Richard Prior and nobody who’s still a kid will recognize the cameos. But that’s ok because more attention will be on the Muppets and the original actors did a great job performing them. Henson always gave a little more soul into the performances then the current actors (not saying the newer ones don’t do a good job they do great, just more focus on the zany now instead of the quiet times that often came with Henson movies) and it shows especially how he plays Kermit and Rowlf. There are of course a few 4th wall breaking jokes (don’t have time to explain the whole story of there predicament, hand out the script) and a few puns some of them fall flat. Drinks on the house and everybody goes to the top of the house looking for drinks is a really stupid pun for example. But for every joke that is a groaner you get two more that are actually funny.

Throw in a great sound track with things like Rainbow Connection, and the song Kermit and Fozzy sing has they head down the road which not only catchy but helps emote and explain the characters and the fact that they are in over their heads but have yet come to a real grasp of it yet.

I should also note the puppeteering is top notch and it’s more noticeable here too. While they don’t CGI up the modern Muppet movies any, the mere fact that we have digital compositing probably makes the job quite a bit easier. Here before the Apple 2 became a house hold product we get Kermit riding a bicycle a simple looking feat that was probably much harder to actually produce. And other great effects are also shown throughout the movie including a giant Animal breaking through a house. The top notch performances by the puppeteers really stand out.

The Blu Ray

The movie looks great on blu ray and looks way better than its age would suggest that it did. Good job Disney in making this movie in High Definition. That said it falls victim to an idea Disney had a few years ago I am glad they dropped in that is there intermission idea. It sounds good on paper but when I pause to go do something it scares the crap out of me to hear my TV blear up again has it goes to an intermission and then have to load back into the movie again. That said pausing this blu ray causes it to go to a karaoke menu of the songs that are played in this movie. And the karaoke can be chosen on the menu has well.

Final Recommendation

The Muppet Movie has aged there is no denying that. But still it’s nice to go back to the orginal muppets and there performances and still see they stand the test of time. Like the newer Muppet movies go back to the original and you will still be in for a real treat.